Police in Romania have discovered a cache of rare books, including first editions by Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, stolen in a sophisticated 2017 heist from a London warehouse. The European Union's judicial cooperation agency confirmed the find on Friday.
The stash of around 200 valuable books was hidden in a concealed space under a house in rural Romania. London's Metropolitan Police said the recovered books are worth over £2.5 million ($3.2 million). Detective Inspector Andy Durham described them as 'irreplaceable' and of great importance to international cultural heritage.
The burglars cut holes in the roof of the west London warehouse and abseiled down to avoid motion detectors. They loaded the books into 16 large bags and escaped back through the roof. A joint investigation involving police from the UK, Romania, and Italy, supported by Europol and Eurojust, linked the heist to 11 similar burglaries across Britain, netting around £2 million in stolen property.
The Met Police attributed the crimes to a Romanian organized crime gang. Raids in June 2019 led to the arrest of 13 suspects, all charged in the UK. Twelve have pleaded guilty and face sentencing hearings starting later this month, while the 13th is scheduled for trial in March.
